American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) has launched a new initiative to drive ‘purposeful innovation’ and ‘enhanced governance’ around artificial intelligence, both internally and for clients, the TMC announced.
The initiative will focus on four key areas – traveller care, finance, engineering and enabling a modern workplace conduct – with a dedicated team that will conduct assessments with legal, privacy, compliance, procurement and cybersecurity departments in order to advise on 'the new risks' introduced by AI.
The team will be led by Marilyn Markham, who has been appointed VP, engineering and AI strategy.
Other team members include Erica Trevino, who has been named VP, operations system strategy and optimisation, and Jake Hautly, who has been announced as VP, finance systems strategy and optimisation.
Neil Kirk, VP technology services, will also be specially engaged in initiatives for staff productivity, according to the TMC.
Commenting on the initiative, Markham said: “Artificial intelligence will supercharge our colleagues and bridge a path to automation previously limited by the language-data barrier. Scaling AI for Amex GBT will unlock efficiencies and inspire product innovation to elevate user experiences for our colleagues, our clients and their travellers.”
The TMC said it “actively uses” proprietary AI across its portfolio of services. In 2020, Amex GBT acquired AI start-up 30SecondsToFly, which has been used to develop natural language processing in the company’s chat and email channels, while the company’s 2021 acquisition of Egencia from Expedia Group brought additional AI and data science expertise and enterprise capabilities, according to Amex GBT.
Amex GBT chief innovation and technology officer, David Thompson, said: “We are building a secure environment, applying robust testing, and partnering with the leaders of the AI revolution, so our employees and customers can feel confident that we are progressing responsibly.”